Wake Me If You're Out There
by siriusquack
Summary: (OC) [AU] When Danny's neighbor Beth moves in, he never expects her to become such a good friend. Could revealing his secret be a great decision or a terrible mistake? Follow as Danny Fenton develops and hones his new and strange powers.
1. Monopoly and Secrets

_Hello! This is my first story on here. I've had an idea for this story for a while, so I decided to get it out of my system. I've got a general idea of how this is going, well, at least for a good chunk of it. I'm going to be changing the relationship between some of the characters and what happens when, as well as who all knows about Danny. In this situation, neither Sam nor Tucker know about it, but he has received his powers already. I hope this clears up what all happens. Some of the characters will be OC (including one of the main characters), but other than that I got the characters from Danny Phantom. I don't own them etc etc. Okay. Enjoy~_

They sat on the floor of Danny's room playing a rousing game of Monopoly. It's never really as fun with two people, but they both liked Monopoly and the board game assortment was limited in the Fenton household. Bethany was the schnauzer and Danny the hat.

Most of their nights had been like this. Quiet evenings were spent at either one's house, doing mindless things and chit chatting here and there. She was new at Casper High, residing six blocks down the road and just two doors down from Danny's house. Mrs. Fenton had delivered cookies to welcome her new neighbors when she spotted the timid Beth in the background. The moms got to talking, as moms do, about their children and how yes, my son's about her age, I'll have him swing by sometime. And, yes, that would be nice, she's so shy, you know, and I'm worried about her making friends. As annoying as it is to have play dates arranged by your mother at age seventeen, they were both happy that they found a new friend in each other.

Not much was being said between the two. They were casual friends, letting the noise of the dice hitting the game board and the constant rattling of the A/C serenade their night. The game was pretty even, although Danny was pretty close to controlling all of the reds. So went the seemingly boring night.

"I swear to God, if you buy the last railroad, I will murder you in your sleep," joked Beth. Danny laughed and moved his piece to Pennsylvania Railroad. He sat, intentionally waiting to make a decision, and Beth grabbed the nearest pillow, making contact with his head. Danny fell back laughing as Beth slid his piece to the jail corner. "Well, now I won't have to worry about it. You can't purchase property in jail."

"I don't know how you play Monopoly where you come from, but here in Amity Park, the only things that control the movement of the pieces are the dice and the occasional Chance card. You better check yourself." He placed the hat back on the board. "And just for that, I WILL buy it, thank you very much."

"Sorry. Bank holiday. Try again tomorrow," Beth declared. She put the money back into the box and closed the lid. Danny dived to get it out of her possession, but she was quick to counter with a swift movement across the carpet. The horse-play went on for several minutes, and the two eventually agreed to split a time-share for the property. They would figure how that worked in the game later.

"You know, this is the most fun I've had since my mother introduced me to animal noises as a toddler. You play this game like a real capitalist," Danny laughed as he attempted to rip the property card in half.

"To be honest," Beth started, "this is definitely the most fun I've had since moving here. I know it's dumb, but I'm glad that our mothers set this little thing up. I was worried about making friends…I've never been really good at it."

"Friends? We are nearly business colleagues. Just because I share a railroad with you does not mean I want to share a see-saw ride."

"No Danny, I'm serious. Thanks for hanging out with me."

"Alright, fine. You don't need to thank me. I'm glad too."

They sat in silence for a while, staring at the board. The game seemed a little dull after that last turn. Beth broke the quiet with a small voice. "I feel like I could tell you anything."

"Yeah? I feel the same way."

"Is that so?"

"Well…" he hesitated. His eyes became less focused on the world around him and more focused on something that he was obviously contemplating. "Yeah." He said after a sudden private realization. "I bet I could."

"Okay, good." Beth said. "I think I'd feel more comfortable about letting you know something about me that not a lot of people know. That way, anything else that comes up in the future won't seem so secretive and dramatic."

"Sure, sure," replied a distracted Danny.

"So here goes…." She waited. "I, uh…. I used to be bulimic." She paused. "Yeah. I had this whole self-confidence issue. Compared myself to other girls and all that. Bullies and all that, yada, yada, eventually word got out at my school and I was such a wreck my parents decided it would be best to move over the summer. I got therapy and stuff and a great doctor and all… it's just the kind of dark memory that shadows my life now."

"Beth, I'm so sorry… that must be awful." He looked at her now with an odd sort of agreement. It became quiet after that.

"I hope it isn't too forward of me to just blurt this stuff out. I just feel really comfortable around you." Her cheeks grew red and she looked away.

"Oh, please don't be embarrassed. It's not like I'm gonna treat you differently. I'm not a jerk. I promise."

"I can't help it," she said. "You know. Self-confidence thing. Although I am making improvements. I don't want you to worry or anything."

"No, you seem strong. Thanks for opening up to me."

"Any time. I'll be here all week." She joked. They chuckled a little and sat in silence for some more. She was fiddling with the corners of her get-out-of-jail-free card when Danny suddenly piped up. "So you can keep a secret, I take it?"

"I'm trained and certified in 5 states plus D.C," Beth retorted. "Why?"

"Well…" Danny stood up. "I've got a pretty big secret of my own."

"Oh? Wait. Let me guess. You're related to some celebrity and you're starting your own cologne line."

"No, no, nothing like that." He uttered, hesitant. "No… maybe now's not the best time…"

"That's fine, I-"

"No, you know what? You're a cool person and I think it'd be okay that you know."

"Sure, I mean, it's not like you have a secret harem of women in your closet—"

"Yeah, no, definitely not…" he got up to close the door of his room and paced around. He was clearly on edge.

"You know, if you don't feel comfortable, you really don't have to tell me—"

"I will! I want to! I… it's just…weird, okay?"

"Okay, Captain Interruption, just get it over with. Rip off the band-aid. Give it to me straight. Talk to me, goose. Give me the skinny. Lay it down-"

"Sorry to interrupt again, but if I tell you, will you stop spouting whatever it is that you're spouting?"

"I'm all ears."

"Well, you won't need your ears for this…" he looked down nervously. "It's something you'll have to see to believe."

"My uncle Bernie has seven fingers on one hand. I've seen weird. I'll believe it. Now you've got me all excited. Just tell me already, Danny!"

He sighed, moving over feet in front of Beth. He was visibly nervous; hands shaking and knees quivering, he stood there like a kid presenting his first book report. He clenched his fists together and nodded down towards his shoes. That's when a neon cyan ring formed around his torso, lighting up the room like a fluorescent hula hoop. The ring split into two and separated, parallel to the ground and to each other. Slowly, shyly, they rose and fell, respectively, revealing with their departure a glowing dark Hazmat suit that covered a glowing body. The lower one reached the floor, leaving white boots in its path, while the other one rose above his head and disappeared into the room. What once was dark brown hair was now a shocking white. What once was a normal bedroom seemed eerie and cool with the entrance of this new entity. The boy rose his head, eyes meeting those of a shocked and amazed young girl. "It's me, Beth," echoed the voice of her friend. "Uh….Tada?"

"Okay," she stated, slowly. "This… definitely trumps seven fingers."

_Huzzah! My plans for the next installment include telling what happened leading up to this point. I hope you liked it! And if you didn't that's fine too. Don't feel pressured to like it because I want you to. Because what kind of relationship would there BE between the two of us if i expected you to- okay, yep, thanks._


	2. Rooftop Recollections

Beth remained on the carpet, but her head was all over the place. Here before her was the Danny she'd known for the past couple of months, right? She knew who he was. Or, rather, she knew who they were. Danny was the guy she had just been hanging out with. This being, however, was more of an urban legend. She's heard people talking about him, whispers in grocery store aisles or tales of the latest sighting. She knew he was real before all this, though. Those two have had an encounter.

It happened about three weeks after her family had officially moved into their sixth story apartment. The night was just settling in, and she was walking home from a quick visit to the gas station to pick up some things for dinner. Stepping hastily along the old city roads, she was crossing the last alleyway before her building when she felt a sudden chill creep up and grab her ankles. She felt herself being pulled down, as if dropped by a hawk from the sky, and rushed through the solid pavement. The sensation ended abruptly, and a faded cackle seemed to echo from the ground. Terror swept over her as she realized her legs were stuck in the asphalt. She felt no pain and assumed she was intact, but it seemed as though some paranormal thing was harassing her from below. Her throat closed up as she tried to scream for help, and it occurred to her that she was actually frozen with terror.

Beth tried puller herself out of the ground, but it was of no use. She was stuck. There was no way she could remove herself and flee. No one was around her, and the shadows of the walls hid her placement. Someone would have to trip over her to find her. But when would that be? And what would the fiend have done to her by the time that happened?

But she needn't worry any longer. A gray flash swooped from above and pulled her out of the ground. She was lifted up a foot above the pavement and let go, luckily landing on her feet, although unsteadily. In front of her, a ghost boy put his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a distant voice. "Did it hurt you?" Beth could only shake her head tersely in response. She was having trouble forming coherent thoughts, let alone sentences or words. "Do you know where it came from?"

She looked down, shaking as she pointed to the spot where she was just stuck. Without another word, the ghost paled into translucency and sank into the road. Too many strange, new things were happening all so quickly. Beth was overwhelmed. She began to see the world through black spots, as though she were watching an old movie recorded on a broken VHS. Her hearing faded and before she knew it she was lying on the ground, faint and weak.

She was still succumbed to the intensity of the moment when she heard that echoing tone again. "Don't worry, I took care of it. You're safe now. It's okay." She opened her eyes and gazed up. The soul looked at her through raw eyes, surprisingly full of concern and care. She was crying silently as he put his arms around her shoulders. "Come on. I'll walk you home. I promise not to hurt you. Just tell me where to go."

She started walking forward with her head bowed down, beginning to cry hysterically. She could feel his presence next to her, but it wasn't like the touch of a human. It simply felt as though something was _near _her, not actually holding her, sheltering her. The feeling was somewhere between a solid and a cold mist. It definitely couldn't have been alive. Which, really, left only the one alternative. Dead.

However strange of a situation she was in, she didn't really have a choice but to trust the phantom. Without his support around her - although strangely vague - she could not have walked herself home. He seemed nice enough, and his amiable presence was supportive enough to let her feel comfortable. They stopped outside of her building. She stood straighter now and was finally coming to her senses.

"Th…thank you…."

"You don't need to thank me," he assured. He let her go and stepped backwards, giving her a friendly smile as he slowly became completely invisible. She felt a cold mass of fog ascend into the air and assumed that it was the ghost flying upwards and away. She looked up into the sky for any signs of him, but he was gone.

That was the first and last time she saw him in person. Well, that is, until this moment in the ghoul's very own teenage bedroom. Now her savior was standing before her, a person she felt she knew very well. Needless to say, she had a lot of questions.

"Well, I haven't done this whole 'revealing my ghost side' thing before, so how do you think I did? Was my presentation good?" Danny was clearly trying to break up the tension and shock in the room.

"What…how…?" Beth murmured, finding herself in that familiar loss of words. "This is unreal."

"It's real, alright," Danny replied. Now that she had this presented to her, she could understand that it was the same person. It was still Danny's voice, but it was masked by a glow no mortal could possibly imitate. His physical features were the same, too, but it felt as though some sort of illusion covered up the boy behind the ghost.

"So, let me get this straight. _You_ were the one who pulled me out of the road that night?"

"Yes."

"And you were the one who disappeared into the ground and came back up to find me fainted on the ground?"

"Yep."

"You were the one who lead me home while I was sobbing ridiculously?"

He looked down at his boots modestly. "I, uh….yeah. Hah…" his pale cheeks showed a hint of pale pink as he was rushed with humility. "I was in the neighborhood and I saw you were stuck, so I figured I should swoop in and assist."

"Wow. Okay. No, not okay. Incredible. This is the craziest thing I have ever experienced. Before it was the sinking into the road thing, but now… this definitely takes the cake."

Danny stood scratching his head and shifting from foot to foot, looking at the ground and inspecting its every detail. Meanwhile, Beth looked at him in awe. She couldn't tear her gaze away. It was like seeing a lion walking on its hind legs and doing the cha-cha.

"You are amazing, you know that? Not just like, you know, the second-self-slash-alter-ego thing you have going on, but just…everything!" she exclaimed.

"Ssssssh!" he hurried. "My parents don't know, and I can't have them knowing. Just…keep your voice down and I'll try to explain what I can."

"Keep my voice down?" she questioned, raising her voice. "How could I POSSIBLY—"

At this moment, Danny swept across the floor and grabbed her by the arms. She felt a chill where their skin touched and some type of wind flowing through her. He had begun to shift again, and was taking her along for the ride. Quickly, he rose and took her into the air. Suddenly, they were on the roof Danny's building, overlooking much of the evening of Amity Park. Danny set her down and phased back to a solid. "Sorry, I couldn't have my parents hearing." He walked towards the edge of the roof and sat down. Stumbling, Beth followed suit.

"So…you get to do that whenever you want?" she asked curiously.

"Pretty much," he responded, "although I have to be careful where I do it. I'm pretty sneaky, though, so it all works out.

"I guess my first question would have to be…. How did this all start?"

"An understandable question," he declared. He looked forward to the roofs of the buildings in front of them and began telling his story.

"As you know by the posters my parents hang all around town, the Fentons are known for their amateur ghost hunting house calls. It's a pretty wild profession, definitely, and at first I was skeptical of the whole 'paranormal' thing myself. See, my parents have been studying this stuff all their life. They've researched and inspected as much as they could every day for the past, oh, I don't know, 20 or so years. At least, that's how long they've been married. They slowly and with each passing year get closer to any actual scientific connection to the ghost world, and last year they made a big leap. After weeks of working in the basement, they build a sort of Ghost Portal. The plan for this portal was to get any ghosts they would find around town back into this state of limbo somewhere in between life and death. I guess it's sort of the gap between our world and the world of the dead.

"Anyway, one day I decided to do downstairs and check it out. I put on the silly suit because, although I didn't think it would actually work, I figured it was better safe than sorry. I stumbled into this giant cylindrical metal container and played with tons of knobs, stuff I should definitely have not been playing with. Well, I got pretty into fooling around in there and I pressed this big red button because, come on, what's more fun that pressing a big red button? Well, that's when it happened.

"There was a giant shock, and suddenly I blacked out. I thought I died. Well, I mean, I guess I _did_ die in a way, but… you know what I mean. I knew I felt different when woke up. I felt lighter and more aware of my surroundings. But, I was still in the basement right where I had just been, so I thought it was just a big shock. And it was a big shock alright. I'm still shocked by it."

Danny paused, looking back at Beth, who was listening intensively. She had never heard Danny speak so many serious words in a row before. She was used to terse, often witty responses. "So you're not dead, because you're clearly alive when you're your normal you. But you're also a ghost when you're in this form. So you're just half way between."

"Yeah, I guess so. I can change back and forth whenever I want to, so it's not so bad. I'm getting used to it."

"How long ago was this?"

"Well, let's see….it was definitely before you moved in, so…. Maybe seven months? Ish? Something like that."

"So you can go through stuff and disappear. I remember you disappearing on the day you saved me," Beth recalled. "Hey, what happened to that thing that pulled me into the ground?

"Right, that. I found it in the sewers laughing just below where your feet were. Just some dumb ghost blob that has nothing better to do than to harass humans. It happens. I made sure it wouldn't bother you anymore."

"Oh, okay, cool…" she said. "So, any other hidden talents I should know about?"

"Well, I can fly…." Danny murmured. Beth's mouth dropped open. He laughed. "What? Don't believe me?"

"Are you kidding? After all of this, I'd believe in Bigfoot having a picnic with a Yeti. I'm just so jealous. I wish _I_ could fly."

"Yeah, it's pretty neat."

"Well? Can I see it or are you just gonna talk the talk?"

He laughed as he rose from his sitting position into the air. She watched as he glided through the sky seamlessly. He moved around a little bit and landed next to her. "Now, as cool as that was, and believe me, it was cool, I think we both know you can do cooler things than that."

"Oh, come on, Beth…."

"No, YOU come on. Give me some real flying action. Do some flips or something. I dunno. Impress me, ghostie."

"Alright, fine." Danny said. "But only because it's good practice for me." Beth laughed as he rose back into the air, more swiftly this time. He sped out over the rooftops of the adjacent buildings and jetted through the air. He was dancing through the sky, splitting through the air, gliding across the horizon, she thought with amazement. Oh, why dress it up any more than it was? He was Danny Fenton, her best friend, and he was simply flying.

_Thanks for reading! Feel free to R&R, I'd appreciate any feedback you have. I've already begun working on the next chapter so expect that sometime soon!~_


	3. From Both Rooms

Danny lied in his bed just hours after the big reveal, unable to sleep. He was glad he opened up to Beth, but he just felt so… exposed. He never imagined anyone else would ever know. That was not in the plan. Besides, who could he tell? His parents? Amity Park's most prominent, albeit lousy, ghost hunters? Yeah, like that was going to happen. And his sister Jazz, the Psych major, would flag him off as crazy and/or try to run a case study on him. That leaves Tucker, the simple "ladies" man, but he would probably just see Danny as a new, ultimate, and supernatural wing man. Man, that kid was bent on getting a chic. Other than that, he had no one really with whom to share his secret.

He shifted to his left side, then to his right, then onto his back. After what seemed like hours of flip-flopping, Danny decided to go for a stroll to clear his mind. Or, rather, a fly. He sat up, changed into his ghost form, phasing through the window and into the night sky.

After gliding around aimlessly, he stumbled upon Amity Park's actual park and descended onto the soft, lush grass. Park rules declared that civilians weren't allowed on park grounds after sunset, but he figured he might be an exception. After all, in his current form, he wasn't really a civilian. Coming across a playground, he climbed on top of a cold, metal swing set, resting there and looking across the dark horizon.

This was a pretty calm place, especially when deserted like this. Danny wasn't much of the outdoorsy type, but he could still appreciate a good ol' fashioned breeze on a late summer evening. He swung his legs as he thought about the episode that was the past evening. He hoped their next encounter wasn't going to be awkward, or stiff, or anything out of the ordinary. Imagining losing Beth over something so crazy like this was unbearable. Hopefully, she would just see this as another personality trait. Danny Fenton, 17. Likes astronauts and video games. Average student. Becomes a ghost and flies around town for shits and giggles.

Danny was just about to go home when he sensed the presence of a ghoul nearby. Most of the departed are friendly, despite popular opinion, but he felt subject to checking it out anyway. He turned around and saw the soul immediately. It wasn't a very defined ghost, like he or other more humanoid figures, but more of a wisp, like what you would expect when a Pikmin has just lost its life. It could be the soul of a dead mouse or something, Danny thought as he watched it waltz eerily through the air. Maybe he could take this opportunity to exercise his ghostly communication skill. Danny flew down to the tree by which it was situated and observed it as it glided away from him.

That's odd, Danny wondered. What's up with the littler traveler we have here? Danny followed it through the trees and bushes scattering the open field, curious as to its destination. Suddenly, the wisp stopped, and when Danny approached it, it evaporated into the air. Maybe its business on earth was done, he concluded as he glanced down to see the limp body of a park squirrel. Oh, I get it, he thought. The squirrel wanted me to bury it along with its nuts. Or something like that. Danny decided to act upon his hypothesis and took the squirrel back to the tree where he first found the specter.

Just as he was placing the lifeless rodent into the ground, he heard a noise coming from behind him. Gently letting go of the squirrel, he turned around to see the shining light of a lamp being carried by some college-aged park volunteer. The figure appeared to be gawking at him. What's he looking at? He's never seen a kid in a park before? Oh, that's right, Danny realized. He's never seen a ghost kid in a park before. The ranger dropped his flashlight, and Danny took this opportunity to disappear. After the ranger came to his senses, he grabbed the torch and searched for the boy.

Danny feared that he had frightened the man. But he didn't seem so shaken. He was even smiling a little bit. He ran over to the spot where Danny was to inspect the hole he was digging, finding the dead squirrel in it.

"Well, I'm not sure what this is all about," muttered the ranger, perplexed, "but it doesn't seem so bad." He even threw in a nut and kicked in some dirt. "Just helping to give the squirrel a proper funeral. You're alright, kid." He smiled and turned back to patrol some more.

"Thanks," Danny smiled as the man jumped, startled at the seemingly source-less voice. "You're not so bad yourself." And with that, Danny flew back into the sky while the ranger twirled around clumsily, looking for the ghost boy. Laughing and heading for home, he figured that maybe things weren't going to turn out so bad after all.

* * *

Beth lied in her bed just hours after the big reveal, unable to sleep. Today was a crazy day, she thought. A crazy, crazy day. The moon shone in through her window like the headlights of a faraway car. Natural lighting always seemed to soothe her into a quiet sleep, but it wasn't doing the trick today. She flipped over to turn on the lamp beside her bed and sat up, adjusting her pillows. Swinging her feet out of bed, she walked over to the mirror on the far side of the room.

She looked at her sleepy reflection, which looked back at her with mocha eyes. She pushed her mousy hair up into a high pony tail and let it fall back down onto her shoulders. Passing the mirror, she gazed out the window to look at the stars. There were never many stars above Amity Park, but the possibility of the departing clouds kept her curious. There, she sat for longer and reflected further on the day.

She couldn't help but feel inadequate now when she thought of Danny. He had amazing powers and was still a down to earth person. Meanwhile, she constantly worried about herself retreating into her dark past. As much as she prided herself on straying from the uniformities of a girl her age, she wished it weren't because she had suffered from an unforgiving disease. Her mother would never want her to think this way – and she couldn't imagine wanting any friend of hers to feel this way – so all she could do was hold her head up high and wait for the pain to pass.

Ugh, enough complicated emotions already, Beth thought. She needed a distraction that wasn't going to lead her to think about her unfortunate mental situation. She picked up the nearest book she could find and sat on her bead, waiting to doze off.

Just as she went to put down her old book, she looked out the window and saw a blur in the distance. Inspecting it further, she realized it was Danny. It seemed he couldn't sleep either. She watched as he passed over the rooftops of the street and out of sight, assumingly towards his home. I bet people don't realize this ghost has a home, she smirked as she headed back to bed. His presence outside her window reassured her. Even though she's going through something out of the ordinary, so was he. She was glad to have a friend with whom to confide. Things are looking up, she thought. Oh, finally.

_There's no casual word for the noun "fly", I discovered as I was writing this chapter. You wanna go on a walk, you can say "stroll", but if you're a ghost and you want to have a casual flight, you're kind of stuck with just the one word. While I feel free to question the actually opportunities the English language provides, feel free to review and what-not. 8)_


	4. Tucker and Sam

The next day, Tucker called up Danny to see if he wanted to hang out at his place to play some Monster Slash: Annihilator. The answer was yes, of course, because who could pass up an opportunity like that? Around ten, he went downstairs and left a note on the kitchen counter for whenever his parents got back from their daily ghost patrol: "Gone to Tuck's, 10:00. –D".

Then, grabbing a quick snack, he walked outside his front door and headed towards Tuckers house. Of course, five minutes into the walk, he realized it would probably be quicker to just fly over. Ducking into the nearest alley and behind a dumpster, he changed form and flew into the air. Deciding it would be best if no one saw his flying during the day, he lost visibility as he headed towards his destination.

Amity Park during the day was definitely a different place than during the night. Most of the people of the small city headed home once the sun sets, but they spended their days hustling along the busy streets. There was never too much traffic or too many crowds of people, but it was enough to prove that people did, in fact, live there. He watched as cars below him moved along at thirty five miles per hour, give or take, and as people came in and out of little mom-and-pop shops along the main roads. Luckily, Tucker did not live on a main road, so Danny's descent would be easy and speculator-free.

Coming to Tucker's building, he landed on the roof and looked for some sort of door down to the main staircase. Finding it, he tried opening it and found it was locked. No problem. He shifted through the door and back into his normal form. Man, these ghost powers came in handy. He clunked down to steps to the fourth floor. There, he knocked and was greeted by a slightly surprised Tucker.

"Hey, dude. You're kind of early," Tucker noticed. "Find some new short cut here or something?"

"Yeah, something," Danny laughed. What could he say? He amused himself at times with his situational irony. "Tell me you've got some Cheesy Blasters, or I am _out_ of here."

"Just get them out of the cabinet and meet me in my room," Tucker smirked, "you cheese-obsessed bastard."

"That's my name, don't wear it out." He grabbed the noisy bag and headed down the familiar hallway towards his friend's dirty room. Video games and snacks high in salt. Sounded like a great way to start the morning.

About half way into their operation, Tucker decided it was time to talk about something other than blasting monsters to pieces. "So have you finished all of your summer work? I have two books to read and I've read, like, two pages so far. But the pages I read were the table of contents and the author's acknowledgements."

"Don't talk to me about going back to school when I'm about to blow a giant flying monster into smithereens," Danny replied, distracted by the task at hand. "And no, I haven't started either. I've been pretty distracted lately."

"Oh? By whom? And is she hot?"

"Tuck, cut it out. Not all of our lives are consumed the pursuit of girls."

"Obviously. You spend your time shoving cheesy snacks into your mouth when you should be using it to get a girlfriend," Tucker joked as he scored big time by hitting two monsters with one bomb. "BANG! DOUBLE SHOT!"

"Says the guy who holds the world record for biggest talk but smallest walk. When's the last time you went out on a date, anyway?"

"Okay, it's been a while," Tucker admitted. "But I've been practicing my smooth moves to swoon the ladies. I'll be ready by the time junior year starts."

"Yeah? And do you use your left hand or your right hand for that?"

Tucker hit him swiftly on the back of the head. "Focus less on targeting me and more on targeting our monstrous opponents. I'm feeling confident about our skills, and, with enough time and practice, we should be able to beat our high score."

And so the afternoon was spent blasting foul beasts and racking up points. When their source of "nutrition" ran out, the guys decided to grab a bite at their local Nasty Burger, just down the street. Pocket change in hand, they trudged down the couple of blocks it took to get to greasy victory. Nasty Burger was often crowded, but it was less so now that the lunch crowd had died off. The two boys slid into a booth and picked up a menu.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here," Danny said, inspecting the menu for his next victim: red meat.

"Looks like four or five options. Wait," Tucker hesitated. "Four. Definitely four. I think she just got a boyfriend recently, and I'm not one to chase after a taken woman."

"I was talking about burgers, but alright." Danny lifted his head to see what Tuck was talking about. It was true; there was a group of girls around their age hanging out at a table near them, and one of them was showing off a new necklace she must have gotten from her new boyfriend. He liked girls and all, but the only thing he really cared about right now was eating. He was about to call for a waiter when a darkly clothed figure burst into the store and started yelling.

"Meat is murder! Know the source of your food! Those cows could have grown up in a four foot by four foot square prison of killing! Spend your money wisely, citizens of Amity Park! Save the cows!" He couldn't help it. Danny looked up from his menu, just as about everybody else was doing. In the doorway stood Sam Manson, a self-righteous girl who went to his school. Sam was a very intense sort of person. She had intense eyeliner, an intense sense of fashion, and a very intense personality. It wasn't out of the ordinary that she was protesting the consumption of animals. He just never expected to see her out of the blue like this. She always changes her cause from year to year—probably some way to rebel from her snobby parents, he thought—and he guessed that this year she chose vegetarianism.

"Meat is delicious, and you can't deny it!" Tucker stood up like the ham he is. "I stand by the rights of meat-eaters everywhere. Bon Appétit, my carnivorous friends!" He slammed his fists down on the table and Danny put his head in his hands. The people of the restaurant laughed generously and continued eating. Sam had not gotten the reaction she was hoping for. She approached the boys and began to preach further.

"You know what, Foley? Actually, no, you don't. You're eating the product of a consumerist society that can't see past the lives of these poor, innocent animals." Sam looked over at the menu and scoffed. "Do they even offer any vegetarian options here?"

"Actually, yeah. They have waffle fries and lemonade and stuff," Danny added. Sam seemed surprised that he actually spoke. This was the first time they've ever really talked, aside from the random partner assignments in years past. Their eyes met, and Sam seemed a little impressed. "Oh, and they've got mac and cheese, too."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever heard you talk before, Fenton," Sam affirmed. She looked him up and down as if inspecting him. "You've got more guts than I gave you credit for."

"He's got guts?" Tucker rose his voice a little. "I'm the one who stood up in front of the crowd to shout back at you."

"Yeah, but you probably did it for those girls over there." Sam looked behind her shoulder at the group of girls who was obviously talking about her. "What, do I have something on my face? Change the subject, chickies." They hushed up and Sam looked quite pleased with herself.

"Well at least I did _something_. Don't I get credit for that?"

"That's like giving a dog credit for barking. Good job, Fido. Want a biscuit?"

"Actually, I'd like a Double-Double Nasty, if you're offering."

"That sounds absolutely disgusting. And if that's how you flirt with women, may I remind you that our gender deserves more respect than that—"

"A Double-Double Nasty is a type of cheeseburger," Danny interjected again. "Don't worry."

"I like you kid, you've got spunk." Sam grinned as she turned towards Danny. "Never took you for a talking and conversation sort of a person."

"It's not really a conversation, he's said, like, two sentences," Tucker clarified. "Why does he get more credit than me? Seriously? Am I going crazy here?"

"Foley, shut up. Fenton, we need to hang out more, kid."

"Um… okay?"

"More words! You never cease to surprise me." Sam turned and left the restaurant in a glorified march. Danny blinked as he tried to figure out what just happened.

"That girl is a bottle rocket. You never know when she's gonna go off." Tucker seemed pleased with his metaphor. "Or what she's gonna say. Or how she's gonna act. For example: why did she seem so impressed with you when I was the one who had the wittiest remarks out of the two of us? 'Oh, there's, um, lemonade, yeah, and, like, soda and stuff,'" Tucker poorly mimicked Danny's voice in a monotone manner, slouching his shoulders and trying to look bored.

"I'm going to choose to ignore that terrible acting job," Danny decided. "Besides, you're just as shocked as I am. I basically sat here doing nothing and she patted me on the back. That was weird."

"No, what's weird is that I bet she's totally into you. Why else would she turn me down? Unless," Tucker reasoned, "She's into _me_ and she's trying to make me jealous by coming on to you."

"One: you're delusional. Two: She's not into me. Three: No, I don't have anything new. You're just delusional."

"Your method of girl-code-rational just isn't as defined as mine is. It's no wonder you don't understand my logic." Tucker signed as he picked up his menu at last. "I guess I will get a Double-Doubly Nasty. I mean the burger, of course, not the sexual act."

"Dude, get your mind out of the gutter." The friends snickered as they placed their order and continued their day as usual. After two burgers and three more hours of assassinating monsters back at the Foley household, Danny and Tuck called it a day. After exchanging their last set of friendly-natured insults, he left apartment 4F and headed downstairs. He didn't feel like flying home; instead, he decided to go on the regular stroll between their houses.

Danny had been walking for just a few minutes when he heard some rustling around the corner of the nearest building. Proceeding with caution, he approached and heard the sounds of struggle. Checking to make sure nobody was around, he phased into ghost form yet again and turned invisible, floating nearer to the source of action.

There, he found a masked character attempting to mug some guy in his mid-thirties. Struggling, the muggee tried to get a hold of the situation, but he was clearly not as well prepared as the mugger. The offender slit a knife out of his jacket, startling even Danny. "Listen, asshole, just give me your wallet and you're fancy Casio watch and no one has to get hurt."

"Hey, man, I don't want any trouble, just leave me—" the man started. Suddenly, he watched as his perpetrator jerked away from him unnaturally. The ghost then appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

"Run, guy!" Danny shouted. "I'll take care of this." The man stumbled backwards, clearly surprised at the sudden entrance of the ghost boy, but thankful for his opportunity to escape. Danny waited until he was farther away address the man. "You really want some quick cash?" Danny asked the criminal. "Just get a job at the Nasty Burger. I hear they're hiring."

"What the hell are you?" a gruff voice came out of the man's throat, strong but shaken. He stumbled back as Danny let go of his collar. Seizing the opportunity, the criminal took off before Danny could reply.

"He asked what I was and didn't even wait around for an answer. How rude," Danny said to himself. Then, figuring since he was already dressed the part, he flew the rest of the way home, stopping in the same alley he departed from this morning to change back. The funny thing was that it seemed like such an average day for him, despite the spontaneous mugging he witnessed. But the rest of the day—waking up late in the middle of the summer, hanging out and eating junk with his pal, and casually using his ghost powers—was becoming his new normal. He smiled as he opened the door of his building and prepared for a quiet evening at home.


	5. Newsflash

The next time Danny and Beth saw each other was three days later, just couple of weeks before school was set to start. Both were nervous as to what their next encounter was going to be like, considering the new information each had of the other, and neither wanted to be the first to initiate conversation. Luckily, as neighbors often do, they bumped into each other on the road outside of their respective buildings, greeting each other with the familiar sense of casual pleasantries.

"Hey," Beth started. Danny nodded modestly, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry I haven't texted you or anything. It just seemed hard to follow the last conversation we had together."

"Believe me, I understand. If anything, I definitely don't want there to be weird sentiments between us. Nothings really changed, has it? Just what we know about each other." Danny finally met Beth's eyes and waited for a response. Beth showed a small smile and nodded subtly. "Anyway, tonight my parents are having a small family night since my sister leaves for college next week. They asked if I would invite your family over, so here I am, inviting you over. My dad gets pretty intense when he plays games, though. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I'll ask my parents when I get home," Beth responded, glad that the two's ability to chitchat was not tainted by awkwardness. I should really stop worrying so much, she thought to herself. "Right now I'm on my way to the store to get some books for school. Sometimes I forget that summer is for school work and not for relaxation." Danny offered a short chuckle in regards to her sarcasm but didn't respond immediately. "If you want, you can tag along. Unless you have some big ghostly heist planned."

"Oh, let's see," Danny checked his wrist as if examining the time. "Next ghostly heist isn't until three. I guess I have some time."

And so the friends made their way into downtown Amity Park, chatting casually as friends do. As they were about to enter the second-hand bookstore, that same goth girl that Danny had encountered but days ago bumped into them as she was leaving the shop.

"Woah! Hey, it's Fenton," she affirmed, again greeting him with that odd sense of approval. "Aaaand new girl! I'm sure that's not your name, but as of right now I don't know what it is and I don't really care to find out."

Beth blushed. "Oh, um…" she looked down at her shoes. "I'm…"

"What she means to say is that her name is Beth. Beth, Sam. Sam, Beth. Lovely. Well, it was nice seeing you, Sam—" Danny was just about to escape when Sam stopped him, firmly putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Remember when I said we should hang out? I wasn't lying about that," Sam looked into his eyes in a rather intimidating fashion as she relayed the news onto Danny. He swallowed and tried not to look straight into her eyes. "Oh, duh. You don't even have my number! Okay, I can fix that." She pulled a sharpie out of her purse and wrote her number on his hand. Capping the pen, she said her succinct goodbyes and walked out onto the sidewalk, heading home. Danny still could not wrap his brain around the interactions he's had with Sam.

"Sorry about that," Danny said, hoping Beth wasn't too caught off guard by Sam's strong personality. "I met her at Nasty Burger a couple of days ago, and for some reason she took a liking so me. I can't really explain it. And I try not to worry about it."

"She certainly is… how to put this…" Beth contemplated for a while. "She's very bold. Yeah, that's it. Bold." She continued walking into the store, checking the aisles for the books on her list. Danny continued to move around, still puzzled by the motivations of the goth girl.

Strolling through the aisles, Danny came across a make-shift newspaper stand leaning against the wall. One paper, _The Amity Times_, stuck out most to him. On the front page was a picture of his family in front of his dad's new "Fenton-mobile". Splashed on the cover were the words "Imperative Insurance or Fruitless Folly? The Fenton Story". Danny blushed as he looked down at the enthusiastic face of his portly father and the more serious but pleasant face of his mother. He and his sister smiled half-heartedly at their sides. _He _knew ghosts existed, and many citizens of the town were also aware. But, of course, there were skeptics that reigned supreme over the minority of the believers. And, unfortunately for him, his parents were the oligarchs of the outnumbered. The excommunication from his peers was partially due to this fact about his parents. Although he never held it against them, he always knew it was true. Just feet away, he heard the snickering of some of his classmates as they watched him discover the article. He looked up towards them and they quickly looked away. Frowning, he resisted the urge to spook them in some way. They walked away and he sighed, trying to distract his mind with the other books in the store.

Beth had just approached him when she, too, noticed the paper. "Oh…" she hesitated as she scanned the cover. "Well, at least it… I mean… it's a pretty good picture of you all!"

"Thanks, Beth," Danny replied bitterly. "That means a lot." They walked up to the counter so Beth could purchase her books. The woman at the cash register raised her head and looked at Danny, smirking.

"Hey, are you the Fenton's kid?" she asked, clearly knowing the answer already.

Danny sighed and nodded his head. "Gee, how'd you know?"

"Well, I was the one who put the newspapers out this morning, so I had to look at your face a lot," she replied. "I'm sorry if I… scared you." She laughed at her joke, scanning Beth's books. Danny's brows knit and he looked away. Beth stood there awkwardly as she and the cashier exchanged currency. They quickly left the store. "I hope you like your BOOOOOOOks!" she shouted out the door. "Have a spoooooky day!" Danny put his head in his hands.

"Come on Danny. Don't let it get to you," Beth consoled her friend. "At least her puns weren't completely terrible."

"It's not the puns that's the problem," Danny confessed. "It's the dumb glares I get from everyone. I can't help my parent's occupational choice." He huffed forward and Beth hurried to keep up with him.

"Their job's not so different. They're just… exterminators, you know? Advanced, postmortem exterminators. Regular job, just oddly specific," Beth continued. "Hey, somebody's gotta do it, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." They continued walking down the street, keeping conversations to a minimum. When they reached their street, they parted ways and went home. Beth climbed six sets of stairs and arrived at her apartment. When she walked in, her parents were waiting for her at the kitchen table.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Beth asked, confused. Usually when her parents were waiting for her together, it meant she was in trouble. But she couldn't think of anything she'd done that was unruly. Her mother glared as her father stood around.

"Bethany Ann!" her mother's dramatic voice echoed through the bare walls of the apartment. "How dare you leave without alerting us! Don't you know we were worried absolutely sick!" Her mother was a theatre major in college and now taught Drama at the local community center. She had quite a flair for the dramatic. "And why didn't you tell us you have homework to do? We found this letter from the school open on the table." She waved the paper in the air like a Polaroid. "Going out into a busy city when you know there's work to be done? PREPOSTEROUS!" Her mother sat down and laid her palm on her cheek, overwhelmingly disappointed. Her father stood there quietly, as he usually did. With her mom, it was best to just let her handle the talking and accept the theatrics.

"Actually, mom, dad, I was going out to get books for school," she said, raising her bag of books as proof. "Summer reading and all that."

"I simply don't believe it!" Her mother looked around anxiously as if trying to find another thing to be worried about. "How could you not let us know where you are going? I was so worried!" Beth stared blankly at the tragic scene that was her mother.

"Anyway, we've decided we want you to work on your school things before you can go out so much," her dad finally piped in. Typical. Her mom gets to explain why her parents (well, mostly her mom) were upset. Then her dad rules out the punishment.

"Mom, come on, you can't be—"

"Please, Beth! Don't make this harder than it must be!" her mom strolled towards the fridge, swinging open the door and grabbing at a carton of milk. Beth sighed, heading towards her room and lying down on a bed. She took of her shoes and dropped her bag onto the ground, suddenly worn out. Maybe she'd skip dinner and take a nap instead. She plopped onto the bed with disgruntlement and fell into an uneasy rest.


	6. Fright

She woke up to the sound of her phone falling off of her bedside table. It must have vibrated right off. Lazily reaching down to grab it, she noticed the clock. She was asleep for five hours. Five hours?! Who takes a five hour nap? And why didn't her parents wake her up for dinner? She unlocked her phone and saw a message from Danny. Oh, no, she thought. She completely forgot about Fenton Family Fun Night. There were two texts from Danny, one dated from 5:00 and one an hour later. "_Hey, did you ask your parents if they wanted to come? My mom's making tacos._" And, then, "_My mom burned the taco meat anyway. How about another night?_" She glanced down at the messages, feeling frustrated at herself. She quickly responded. "_Hey. Sorry. Long story short, fight with my parents and now I'm sort of grounded._" She put her phone down after making sure the text got sent, and then headed into the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal. Her parents were in the main room watching TV.

"Good morning!" her mother sang cheerily over the sounds of NCIS. Either she had completely forgotten about their fight or was very confused. Beth rolled her eyes and retreated to her room. Closing the door, she realized she forgot milk. And a spoon. Oh well. She sat on her bed and ate her dry cereal. Picking up her phone, she glanced at Danny's reply. "_Was it bad?"_

"_No, they just don't want me going out as much. Want me to work on homework. That sort of thing." _Send. Buzz.

"_I could always bring the party to you. Taco meat's bad, but the salsa's pretty good. We can have a fiesta."_

"_Oh, sure. I'll supply the sombreros if you bring the snacks." _ Send. She started to feel a little better. Buzz.

"_Don't test me. Be right there." _ She laughed as she continued eating her dry cereal. Piece by piece, her dinner left her bowl and started to satisfy her hunger. She thought of how she used to eat dinner with her family every night as a kid, laughing at her mom's jokes and making silly faces at her dad. Nowadays, the family dinners died off, and they saw less and less of each other. Even families grow apart, she thought. She spent more nights on her bed eating leftovers than she did with her family in the dining room. It's not like they avoided each other, it just didn't seem as important as it used to.

She started to feel a cold chill as she finished her meal and slouched under the covers to keep warm. She sluggishly let her eyes close, opening them occasionally to remind herself that she was still awake. Her eyes had just opened again when she heard a voice echoing in her room. "Who's ready to party?"

Beth screeched as she reacted to the surprise, jumping in her bed and jolting her eyes open. Frightened, she looked around the room and saw a pair of green eyes glowing in her dimly lit room. Danny laughed as he watched her slowly pull herself together.

"Oh, my god," he said in between bursts of laughter. "What kind of noise was that? 'Eeeep!'" He imitated her as he hugged his stomach, bending over with laughter. "'Eeeep!'"

"DANNY!" Beth bellowed. "You scared the crap out of me! What the hell, man!" She sat herself up on her bed. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Oh, sorry. Maybe I should have been clearer in my message. What were the words I used? 'Be right there'? Huh. Hey, are we speaking the same English?"

"Well, I didn't know you were serious," Beth defended. Danny was still laughing as he sat down on her floor. Beth couldn't help but smile. "Fine. But I hope you know I was kidding about the sombreros. I don't actually own any of those."

"That's disappointing," Danny admitted. The words of her friend seemed to hang in the air like the whispers of a true voice. She looked at him, watching the thin white glow that lined his body fluctuate subtly, in and out. He wasn't looking at her directly, but from the angle she was at she could still see the radioactive gleam of his eyes every-so-slightly lighting up the air surrounding him. She realized he wasn't actually sitting, either. He was levitating just centimeters above the floor.

"Did you know that you're not actually sitting on the ground?" Beth asked. Danny's countenance turned from silly and pleased to confused. He looked down at his legs to confirm Beth's observation, shrugging nonchalantly as he shoved more chips into his mouth. "Now that I know you're here, I can definitely tell," she continued. "You are really loud for a ghost. Do you have a microphone in your mouth or something?"

"Hey, I can be quiet if I want to be," Danny asserted, holding his head up high. "That's another one of my ghostly qualities. I've got all the skills of the ninja." He swiped his hands through the air, karate-chopping invisible enemies. "Wanna see?"

"I'm sure you would do whatever it is even if I said no, so sure." Beth watched as he put down his chips. He gave her a goofy expression as he slowly faded away. It was weird to watch. She couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine. Despite knowing this ghoul was a friend, her body reacted to the odd situation naturally by creeping itself out. As promised, Danny kept silent. "Okay, Danny, nice job. You want a medal?" She waited for a response. "Danny? Are you there?"

"I'm here," a quiet sound came from behind her. She turned, seeing nothing, of course. "No, I'm here." The voice came from farther away now. She jerked her head back to the new source of the sound. A strange wisp went through the air, and she felt an icy gust rustle along her skin. The walls seemed to be breathing heavily, and she could hear the quiet but definite sounds of her own quickening breath. _Aaaaaah…._ The sound revolved around her head and she started to tremble. _Aaaaaah…._

"Danny, it's not funny anymore." Beth's statement was genuine. It was all fun and games at first, but now it was past creepy. Still nothing._ Aaaaaah…._ "Danny, I'm serious. Danny? _Danny._"

"Okay, sorry." Suddenly, the atmosphere went back to normal. Danny reappeared next to the chip bag, continuing to eat without noticing the concern on Beth's face. "You want some chips?" He held out the bag. Beth's intimidated look threw him off a bit. "Are you okay?"

"Well…. I dunno. Did you realize how creepy you were being? It was like the walls were talking and the air was molding onto my skin." Beth looked down, flushed.

"Oh, no, I…." Danny sat in thought. "I guess I got carried away. Um…sorry. That's really not like me to actually… scare people…." He sat stiff as he glanced at the bag of chips. He looked back up. "Like the walls were talking?" he asked, curious.

Quietly, Beth responded. "Yeah. It was like… I dunno. Sometimes there was this breath behind me that touched the edges of my ears. Then the sound seemed to come from everywhere, like it was shrinking me into the room. It was scary." She paused. "Usually you're just goofy and stuff. But it… wasn't as goofy as you may have intended it to be."

Danny looked like a dog being caught for doing something wrong. "Really, Beth, I never meant to actually scare you. I had no idea it was that bad. It didn't seem so bad… but I'll be more careful in the future. I definitely just… got carried away…."

Danny now sat on the floor, spacing out. He kept very still when he was lost in thought, almost like he was frozen. "Hey, don't worry about it," Beth said softly, snapping him out of his daydream. "You're probably still getting used to all the different things you can do. No big deal, really."

"Yeah…" he blinked, turning his head towards her. "I guess part of being a ghost is scaring people. It seems silly, but it never occurred to me." Danny wiped his gloved hands against each other to rid himself of the chip crumbs. "I'm sorry, really… I don't do it again."

"It's okay!" Beth reassured her self-conscious friend. "Seriously. It was an accident."

The two remained silent for a while, letting the noise of the cars that passed by occasionally be the only sound in the room. "Next time I come over, I'll knock," Danny joked. Beth laughed and took the chip bag. The friends sat together and enjoyed their meal for a few minutes more.

"Well, I'll get out of your hair," Danny said at last. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Why?" Beth had forgotten. "Oh, right. My parents. Yeah, don't worry about it. It's really no big deal."

"Alright." Danny stood up and stretched a little bit, delaying his departure. "I'll be off, then." His suit became clear as he prepared to fly out through the wall. "See you later."

"See ya," Beth replied. Then, Danny turned and headed out the window, becoming invisible as soon as he left the building. Beth sat for a while in the spot where she had been sitting with Danny. A few moments later, her mother knocked and opened the door, surprised to see Beth sitting on the floor.

"Hey, girlie girl," her mom greeted her with amiability. She squinted as she realized Beth was sitting on the floor. "What are you doing down there? And where did you get those chips?"

Beth laughed. "Oh, these? I found them in the cabinet and decided to eat them on the floor like a normal teenager."

Her mother was confused. Then she rolled her eyes. "Kids these days," she mumbled to herself as she left, leaving the door ajar on her way out.

Yeah, kids these days, Beth thought to herself. She got up to close the door and slid back into bed.

* * *

_Hooray! 10k+ words! Thanks for reading my little story. I've gotta say, writing it has been a lot of fun. In my mind, WMIYOT is a sort of an intro to a four-part story that I'll write once I've concluded this. Feel free to R&R, I'd love to her what you have to say. Thank you to those who have favorited and followed the story, and thanks to panfan87 for the nice review. 8)_


	7. Nastasia's

Danny was very distraught over scaring Beth so much. Sure, he'd appeared out of nowhere unbeknownst to mortals who happened to come across him in ghost form, but all those times had been different. He hadn't meant to scare them, it just happened, casually, even. Person sees random ghost, person gets scared. Nothing under his control. But he was in control that night he frightened his poor friend, and he had had a very weird frame of mind during it all. It was as though he lost all mortal morality, forgetting the part of him that was human. For just a moment, Danny was completely ghost.

The lust to scare came naturally to him. His phantasmal powers helped him to manipulate how the environment was perceived by the victim – in this case, Beth. He needed no training or guidance. It was instinct. But he never had that urge in his human form. Only when he snapped out his devious humor did he realize the damage he caused. Only when he saw things from less ghostly eyes did he understand that spooking was not all fun and games. Even Danny was afraid of himself, and he wasn't the innocent of the situation. He couldn't imagine what Beth had gone through. It must have been terrible. He rested uneasily in his bed that night, replaying the situation in his head. Certainly, the situation had been eerie, terrifying even. He was a monster. And nothing was more haunting than guilt this made him feel.

He woke up the next morning from a difficult slumber, rubbing his eyes as he slowly came to remember his yesterday and the feelings that came along with it. Two minutes into consciousness and he already wanted the day to be over. He dragged himself out of bed, trying to find something, anything to distract his mind. Breakfast worked for a while, but food only comforts the soul temporarily. Revisiting old save files on video games was okay, however it was easy to get lost in thought when he let his mind wander from the screen. Nothing seemed to settle him. Defeated, he huffed out of his apartment, set on taking a nice, long walk.

Wandering around the quiet, Sunday streets, Danny lost track of time as he unconsciously watched his feet take turns left and right. He didn't know how long he had been walking, and he certainly didn't know where he had ended up. Suddenly coming back to reality, he looked for a street name. Porveneire Avenue. Weird. He'd never heard of the place. It seemed like just another place in Amity Park, though, so he kept walking.

Twelve buildings into the street, he discovered an interesting sort of landmark. The place was old and neglected, displaying unwashed, moldy sidings and crooked, evergreen shutters lining the old-fashioned windows. The rails lining the steps leading up to it were covered in creeping vines, which grew and rose all the way to the roof of the building. The white washed sign overhead read "Nastasia's Parlor", with zodiac symbols and the outline of a hand. Curious, he approached the building to take a look inside, disappointed that he couldn't see past the piece of fabric that covered the window in the door. Deciding since he had nothing better to do, he knocked a couple of times and waited.

No response came from behind the wall. He found a doorbell and rang it, waiting and listening to its slow, gothic chime. Finally, he heard the sound of feet ruffling against old floorboard. He didn't actually expect an answer, so he wasn't sure what to do when the person got to the door.

An old woman in a bath robe opened the door. "Welcome to Nastasia's, do you have an appointment?" A raspy voice came out of the aged spinster. She spoke unenthusiastically and monotonously. "Or are you selling something that I don't need?"

"Oh, hi. Uh… are you Nastasia?" Danny questioned meekly.

"Nah, Nastasia's my sister sweetie," she quipped. "The name's Tanya. If you wanna see Nastasia, I can have you wait inside. She's just finishing up a ritual of hers of some sort. Come on in." She turned, leaving the door cracked for Danny to enter.

He walked inside, smelling a strong combination of mildew, incense, and old perfume. The inside was dark, lighted only by dozens of small candles which lined the floors and tables of the room. Wind chimes and dream catchers hung from the walls. Lucky Japanese cats stood in random collections around the room. The old boards creaked and breathed as he headed towards a downy magenta couch.

"I'll get my sista when she's decided to emerge," Tanya waved back at him as she walked down the hallway. Danny went to reply when he breathed in a heavy cloud of dusk, causing him to cough. He was wailing long enough to make his eyes water, choking back oncoming fits from his throat as he tried to get the dirty feeling out of his mouth. He never expected to end up in such a strange place. Hopefully, a quick, meaningless reading would keep his mind off of his current troubles. And hopefully he had a couple spare bucks in his pocket to pay for it.

He heard the muffled sounds of conversation from within the house. The shuffling of feet grew closer and closer to him until he could make out some words. Tanya seemed to be complaining about something, and her sister seemed to brush off what she said. Tanya was first to appear in the archway, followed by her slightly younger looking, yet still as grey-haired, sister.

"Oh, my…" a reserved voice came from the voice of the soothsayer. "I must have had an especially good ritual today, because I feel awfully connected…" the woman rubbed her eyes and looked up, seeing Danny slouching on the couch. "Oh..." she stood silent.

"Nastasia?" What's the matter with you? You been drinking or something?" Tanya laughed. Her sister did not reply. She simply stood limply, glaring at the boy on her couch. Her pupils dilated and her hands begun to shake. Danny became more self-aware as he sensed something was wrong. "Nastasia, girl. Snap out of it."

"Phantom!" the medium shouted, surprising Danny and making him jolt in his seat. "A phantom in the waiting room! Sister!" The woman seemed anxiously alert, pointing at Danny with one wrinkled finger. Danny stood up suddenly, scaring the woman. "Stay back! Phantom!" _Phantom!"_

"Sister! He's just a kid! I found him outside the door. I think he wants a meeting with you. Calm yourself!"

"Ghoul! Phantom!" the woman acted deranged and frightened, which was not something Danny was hoping for. Was she really a psychic of some sort? How could she tell he was a ghost? She backed up quickly, bumping into an old table and knocking her knick-knacks onto the floor with a loud noise. "Please! Have mercy, soul!" she brought herself to tears. Danny quickly became concerned.

"Please, Nastasia, you must rest. Sit in the other room, I'll make you some tea," Tanya consoled her unhinged sister as she headed for a room in the back, probably a kitchen, Danny thought. Nastasia never took her eyes off of Danny. He didn't enter the place in ghost form, right? No. He looked down at his clothes. No suit. No glow. Just normal Danny. He looked back up at her, yet again startling the woman as if she'd seen a… well… you know.

Finally, Danny spoke. "I don't mean to alarm you—"

The woman yelped. "Oh my!" she hurried into the other room, leaving Danny as remorseful as the night before. He sat back down in a slump, crossing his arms and losing himself in thought again. Surely, this woman must have some real connection with the afterlife. If he could get her to calm down, maybe she could explain to him what had been happening to him. He fiddled with the stray strings on the seat when Tanya reentered the room.

"I'm sorry about my sister. She's very… passionate about her work." Tanya placed a cup of juice next to Danny's spot on the couch. "I'd kick you out, but I have a feeling a meeting with her would settle your mind as much as hers. She does not often have such strong reactions to a customer…." Tanya slowly looked back to the room her sister had gone into. "I'll get her settled down a bit and invite you back into her reading room. She just needs some time to collect herself."

"Sure, I understand," Danny replied, face flushing and staring at the ground. "I'll just be sitting here." Tanya's slippers dragged all the way across the floor back into the kitchen. He could hear the squealing of the boiled water and, later, the sound of it being poured into a mug. Soon enough, the soothing scents of jasmine tea flushed into the atmosphere. The smell of the tea calmed him a little bit. Danny sat still as he waited to be ushered into the room. He stayed stationary for what seemed like ages.

Eventually, Tanya came back the room. "Nastasia is very delicate, but she will see you," Tanya spoke straight-forwardly to the teen. "She is in the last room on the left. Please approach slowly. I don't know why you have so much effect on her, but please do not forget her fragile state."

"Okay…." Danny said, almost a whisper. Slowly, he made his way through the narrow hallway, kicking up dust along the way. The pictures moved on the walls as his body passed them. The floor continued to creak as he approached the end of the hallway. Quietly, gently, he turned and entered the room.

Nastasia sat on a mat behind a low table with her tea at her side. Her distant eyes met Danny's as soon as he appeared in the doorway, watching him as she carefully took his seat just opposite of her. He shuffled up a little closer to the table, making the woman lurch in her seat. From here, Danny could get a better look at the woman. She was old, face wrinkled with experience, eyes a cloudy blue. Her lips were small, almost paper-like. She wore mostly purple in a silky get-up, with purple jewelry covering many of her aged skin. Celestial rings wrapped around long, thin fingers, which rested atop the worn table with tenderness. Danny attempted to smile, but he couldn't quite figure out how to move his face. He didn't want to scare the woman.

They sat in silence for a good minute. Finally, Danny decided to explain why he was there. "My name is Danny. I stumbled upon this place by accident. How can you sense…. What makes you think I'm a ghost?"

"Child," the medium replied weakly, "I don't think. I know. I can see."

This frightened Danny. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

The woman offered a smile. "No, no. Please, do not worry. Besides, who would believe this old girl? No, child." She laughed. They continued to sit. Danny felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Maybe… this was a mistake. If it's not a good—"

"No, no," the woman seemed concerned. "The way I reacted earlier was rash. I'm very sorry, dear. You must understand, I very rarely encounter someone of such… metaphysical context…" she reached her hands across the table to touch his. Immediately after touching them, a shiver visibly went up her arm. She jumped.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, no," she repeated. "It's not your fault. I sense you're fairly new to your power, and your physical body just seems to be adjusting to the extra celestial weight." She nodded, looking down, observing his features. "And you needn't worry, child. Only people who are truly spiritually connected can sense this sort of thing."

"Okay…." Danny felt uncomfortable in his own skin. Nastasia was quick to pick up on this.

"I know my actions may have seemed dramatic, but please know that I only wish to help you from here on out. Before you spoke, I certainly had much fear. But I can tell from your voice that you are a peaceful soul. I am a strong friend of the spirits. This is what I do: I help them. Please let me help you. It will cost you nothing."

"Really? Are you sure? I feel bad—"

"No, no!" she shook her head and waved her hands back and forth. "It is a gift to just be in your presence. Please, stay a while." Now that she was opening up, she seemed very kind and warm-hearted. Danny smiled back at her and relaxed his shoulders. "Now, tell me what worries you. I sense a strong discomfort in your life."

"Wow, you really are good," Danny joked. "I… oh, it's weird to talk about. Sorry if it doesn't come out very… eloquent…."

"Nonsense. Your feelings are feelings no matter how they're expressed. I want you to let your worries go. Put them into the air." She rose her hands above her head, waving them slowly in the room. "You'll feel much better once you release the stress anyway."

"Okay… well… recently I've discovered that I have this mood that makes it very easy for me to scare people," he started, feeling a little silly. "I was… sort of… joking around with a friend, and I guess I was being really creepy. I didn't realize until later how awful it was. I mean I was being really ghost like, more so than I ever have been in the past." He looked at her now, seeing her look back at him with such a strong interest. "I guess I'm just not used to these ghost feelings. I can tell they're not human, and I know it's not good to express them like this… but I can't just ignore them, you know?"

"Yes, child, of course," she started. "With time, I believe, you will learn to control this emotion. You will find new emotions within yourself the more you connect to your spiritual side. One thing you've experienced already is power. This power can easily be used for mischief. You could make the world a stage, mortals your puppets, and you the puppet master. Such strength can be a burden, but it is quite an honor to be able to obtain." The woman looked deep into Danny's eyes. "I sense much, much power within you. More than you have yet to tap into." She grabbed his hands and closed her eyes. "Yes. I see many lessons in your future. You will discover many things about yourself. I…." she grew silent. Danny waited for her to respond, but she simply kept her eyes closed and grew that familiar worried expression on her face again.

"Uh… ma'am?" he asked. She had no reaction. "Are you okay?" More silence. Suddenly, she let go of his hand with another scream, knocking backwards into the wall behind her. Danny jumped as he rose to check if she was alright. The woman was quick to recover, although still seemed restless. "I'm sorry, did my hands do that thing again…?"

"Surges of your power come through your skin and into my palms…" the woman said, pulling herself back to a sitting position. She grabbed his hands again as Danny sat next to her. "Young Daniel… you are extremely strong. You must promise me not to misuse this strength. I beg of you… whenever you feel as if darkness is overshadowing your heart, please seek me out. I fear you may have no other person to turn to when you need spiritual guidance." She held his hands tightly. "Although, I do sense the presence of a strong bond between you and a companion in whom you trust dearly. Keep this person close, even though they may not understand these more visionary things. You need them for guidance. Do not lose them."

"Yes… this was the girl I was talking about. The one I scared… the one I terrified. She knows about my powers, and she's very supportive. I just… I just feel so bad about scaring her… I even scared myself… how could I be so monstrous?" Danny felt his eyes grow hot, and Nastasia looked at him with deep understanding. She held out her arms and took him in, embracing him like a mother to a child. "I don't want to be evil, but what if I can't help it… What if I'm inherently evil?"

"You are most certainly not evil!" she said from within the lock of their arms. "There is much, much goodness in you. You may feel tainted sometimes, and, yes, even evil; but you are truly good. I know this." She slowly patted his back as he sank his head into her shoulders. Her gentle touch and the loving tone of her voice allowed him to let go of all of the pent up emotions he felt building inside of him. She held him for as long as it took for him to feel acceptable again.

"I… I can't thank you enough…" the prophet let go of the ghost boy as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "And I can't _believe_ I'm crying…."

"Oh child," she said, taking his hands and shaking them. "It just means you are feeling. Never be afraid to feel." She was so full of wisdom. She let go as she reached for her tea. Danny sat there wondering how it was possible to form such a strong connection with a stranger so quickly. Nastasia put her hands onto her knees as she hoisted herself up into a standing position. Danny shot up too, sensing their session was coming to an end. She looked back to him, noticing one more thing. "Your eyes… they seem to hold much power. Do you hide it there?"

"My eyes?" he asked aloud. "Well, I mean, I think they change color when I shift, but I don't know if they hold the power. If you say so, though, I guess it's possible"

"Pardon me for being so eager," the woman started, hesitantly, "but may I see them?"

"The green eyes?" he asked. "I haven't really changed just my eyes before, but I guess I could if I tried…" he closed his eyes in an extended blink, focusing. When he reopened them, He saw Nastasia's gaze, full of awe. He could see the green light reflecting from the watery look in her own eyes. Now, although intentionally exposed, Danny felt more controlled and comfortable. Moments of connection seemed to pass. Danny closed his eyes again and looked down at his feet, rubbing the edges of his dirty white shoes against each other. She grabbed his shoulders and his attention, once again.

"Such incredible power in those eyes… I've never seen anything like it in my life…." Nastasia let go of the boy, turning away to grab her tea. Her hands were still shaking from the experience. Danny felt like a small child again, showing off a new skill to an incredulous adult. "I believe this ends our session today. I wonder what Tanya must be thinking." She chuckled to herself as she headed towards the door. Danny beat her there, holding it open for her. "A gentleman, too." She laughed generously as she made her way through the door and into the main room. Danny soon followed.

Tanya was sitting on the couch when she saw them emerge from the room. "Sister!" she said. "I was beginning to grow worried. You were in there for so long. It's already six o'clock."

Danny's mouth dropped. "It's six? As in six in the evening? As in we were in that room for six _hours? _That's impossible!"

"Aah, yes," Nastasia interjected calmly. "Many times, a true connection with a spirit may last for several hours, even when it seems that just minutes passed by. Another true marvel." She laughed as she shuffled onto the couch in the sitting room.

"I really need to go now, my parents are going to _kill_ me," Danny worried out loud. Before turning to leave, he made his quick goodbyes. "It was great stumbling upon this place and meeting you. I'll be back, don't worry." Then, he ran towards the door. Pausing outside to check if anyone was watching, he phased quickly and began his ascent into the sky. Before going too far, he glanced back at the window, seeing the sisters peak from behind the curtain. Tanya's mouth was agape, almost comically so. Nastasia simply waved casually at the boy. Danny waved back and, turning invisible, flew away with a gigantic smile on his face. He had never felt more at peace than he did at that moment. He flew effortlessly with the weight of the world now off his shoulders and a new sense of peace surging through his spectral form. Perhaps he was meant to meet these sisters. Perhaps there was more to this power than going through walls and flying. Maybe, just maybe, it was fate.

* * *

_This ended up being a pretty long chapter. Heh. I was on a roll when I wrote it. I just liked the idea of Danny visiting a psychic and I wanted to incorporate it into the story in some way. Hopefully it all worked out well! R&R if you would like, as always. 8)_


	8. Sister, Sister

Reaching home, Danny wondered whether or not his parents would be mad that he was out for so long. He flew down into the alley and phased back, hurrying towards his home. When he walked through the doorway, he found no sign of his parents. Left on the coffee table in the living room instead was a note scribbled quickly by his mother. "_Went with your father to investigate ghosts. Be back late. Check in the fridge for dinner. LU, Mom." _ Needless to say, he got off pretty easy. Or so he thought. After putting the note back down, he turned around to see his sister standing in the hallway with her arms crossed. Jazz may not have been his mom, but it was times like these that made Danny feel like he had three parents.

"Danny, where were you? You've been gone all day without a note or a call or even a text. I've been worried sick!" Jazz placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward, looking straight into his eyes without glancing away. Danny stood there for a while without a response. Jazz kept her gaze. "I'm waiting," she hinted. Danny shifted between his feet awkwardly and looked back up at her. There she was, still staring at him.

"Look, Jazz, I was just… hanging out in town," Danny explained, telling a half-truth. "Besides, it's not really any of your business," he added under his breath. This only seemed to make Jazz's anger grow. She stood sternly in the hall like a concrete wall, not letting Danny pass into his bedroom until she got a real answer. "Come on, Jazz. Just give it a rest, will you?"

"Give what a rest?" Jazz defended. "With Mom and Dad out hunting ghosts all the time and me moving into my dorm soon, I need to make sure you can be responsible enough to come home at a reasonable time, and maybe not have such a secretive social live." Danny swallowed as he grew anxious. Jazz stepped forwards towards him. "I'm just worried, Danny. Are you even prepared for the next school year? Can you handle the responsibility of your high school life without my presence around? I need you to show me that you can, and the way you've been coming home late and keeping to yourself tells me otherwise."

"I just… come home late sometimes, that's all," Danny responded quickly and curtly. "And I don't know why you think I have a secret social life. Let's be honest. I barely have a social life." Danny tried to relieve his sister. "Really, there's nothing for you to be worried about."

"I can't help but worry!" Jazz was near shouting now. "You know our parents aren't your typical guardians. They're out a lot, which leaves you more opportunity to choose how you spend your time. How can I be sure you're spending your time wisely?" She was back to crossing her arms. Danny sighed, walking towards his room. Jazz moved in front of him as he tried to pass.

"Listen. I'm spending my time just fine. Nothing bad is happening. What do you think I'm doing, drugs? Girls? Really? I'm just... well, you know, taking advantage of my summer."

"See? You hesitated," Jazz declared. "It's all this hesitation with your responses. I know you're not telling the whole truth. Why can't you just tell me what's going on? Do you think I'm not going to like it? That I'm going to tell Mom and Dad? Well, honestly, if it's something extreme, then I might tell them, but other than that—"

"No hesitation and no need to be worried! Can you just… drop it?" Danny tried walking past her again and she blocked him once more. "Come on, let me through!"

"No! Not until you tell me where you were!"

"I was just _out_. In the town. Walking around. Just get over it already!"

"But _where_ in the town?"

"Does it matter? Let—"

"Danny, just—"

"Me…"

"Hold on, I am not done here—"

"GO!"

Danny overcame Jazz's blockade as he pushed past her with heightened force. Jazz was powerfully slammed against the wall with a loud thump, not expecting such clout. She gasped as she reached behind her for her shoulder blade. Danny, apprehensive, turned back around to assess the damage he did. Jazz looked back at him, eyes wet with the onset of tears. Danny immediately regretted thrusting past her so violently once he saw her crying. Danny reached gently towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders and embracing her in a soft hug. She accepted cautiously and swallowed back her cries. "Oh, my God, Jazz, I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me…" Jazz pushed him back and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Are you okay? Do you need some ice? I'll get some…"

Danny ran into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the freezer, and led Jazz to the couch. He placed the vegetables on her back and watched her wince in pain. Danny hated seeing her sore and knowing it was his fault. She held it in place without looking at him. Danny tried to comfort her, placing his hands on her shoulders again and giving her a side hug as they sat on the couch, but Jazz did not react to it. He couldn't find any other way to apologize. He just sat there hoping she would feel better and that it wouldn't be a big deal in a couple of minutes.

"I just… was trying to help you…." Jazz started. By then, she was full-on crying. Danny hated seeing his sister cry. She was a mess, mascara running, leaning over with her hands on her cheeks and her elbows resting on her knees. Her ginger hair fell gently over her back, which shook every so often with the next sob. He sat there helpless, watching her break down.

"I… I'm sorry Jazz…. I know you're trying to help… I reacted way too harshly. It was all my fault. Please, I need to know if you're okay. Does it hurt a lot?" She nodded. "Oh, oh no. Uh, do you think that it's super bad?" She shook her head. "Phew. Okay, well that's good. Um, I don't really know what to do." Danny sat there stiff as he held his sister, comforting her until her cries died down. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah…." She finally said, sitting up but still not looking at him. "I'll be fine. I just need a good night's sleep. It'll probably stop hurting in the morning." Jazz stood up and headed for her room. Danny would have stopped her, but he just didn't know what else to say. Discouraged, he slouched back onto the couch in a huff. It had been a long day. Maybe he needed a good night's sleep, too. Unambitiously, Danny marched to his bedroom and plopped down sluggishly onto his bed.

* * *

_Danny raced through the sky towards his home, targeting a black figure that sulked through the sky headed in the same direction. No matter how fast he flew, this thing only flew faster. He watched as the figure broke into his house and entered, then heard a scream from the inside. Furious and full of adrenaline, he soared down and found the creature cowered over something in the living room. Danny seized its shoulders and turned it around, lifting his right gloved hand and beating the thing extensively. Gaining control, he continued to watch himself clobber the being until he threw one final, powerful punch. The monster was thrown across the room. Danny stood up right and walked slowly towards it. He grabbed its collar and lifted it into the air, eyes glowing a murderous and wicked green. Only then did he recognize the face of the perpetrator. Staring back at him through eyes beaten black was the deformed face of his older sister. He froze only after letting go of her, and she crumbled to the ground in a delicate heap of pain. Knees growing weak, he too stumbled to the ground and cried out in misery. What had he done?_

Suddenly, Danny sat upright in his bed, sweating like a pig and shaking with a combination of anger and fear. He felt heat grow in his eyes, the same feeling that dominated him whenever he felt himself using his ghostly strength. As he calmed down, almost panting with exhaustion, he watched as the room slowly went back to its typical lighting scheme. What a nightmare. But it had felt so real. Danny knew that he needed to learn to control his anger, or this terrible scenario really could happen. He didn't realize it was his sister at the time… but did that matter?

Danny got out of bed, wiping his brow. He knew what he had to do to make himself feel better. He left his room in a mess as he headed towards Jazz's room. His sister jumped as she heard the sound of her doorknob opening vigorously. Groggy from sleep, she realized it was her little brother that stood in her door way. "Danny?" she asked with a yawn. "What are you doing? It's two in the morning."

"Jazz, I need to tell you something," Danny sighed, looking at the tender, sleepy face of his sister. "I never meant to hurt you. I feel terrible about it. I don't know what came over me, really. I'll never do it again, I promise."

"Danny, that's sweet, but couldn't it have waited—"  
"No," Danny forced through her sentence. "It couldn't. I can't get it out of my head. Just know that if you're in danger or anything like that, I will protect you."

"Well… thank you," she responded softly, "Although I don't know when I'll ever be in any real danger. We have a pretty low-key life."

"But it might not always be like that," Danny urged. "I don't know. You never know what's going to happen, I guess. I just didn't want our last real conversation before you left for college to be one that ends in violence." Jazz smiled at her little brother. "I really can't express enough how bad I feel."

"Then don't express it anymore. I get it, Danny. You're a teenage boy. You got mad and you snapped. No big deal! Really, I'm fine," Jazz reassured him. She opened her arms and Danny met them in a tight hug. Jazz winced, but held back from making her pain known orally. "Now get back to bed, will you? I'm tired and I need my rest for my first day at college tomorrow."

"Right, okay. Goodnight, Jazz."

"Night, Danny." Jazz curled back up into her bed, pulling the covers over her head. Danny smiled as he gently closed the door. He felt more at peace now. Happy, and with a more free conscience, he went back to his room and closed the door, exhaling loudly. She may never know how much I could really hurt her, Danny thought, nor how much I could protect her. He knew he couldn't tell her his secret, but at least she had some way of knowing how much he cared for her well-being. Now, it was officially time for the day to be over. No more crazy experiences. He could definitely go a couple days before any more dramatics. But, knowing his crazy lifestyle, he knew that he probably wouldn't.

* * *

_Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying my little story. As always, thanks to those who've favorited and reviewed, I encourage you to keep doing so! I have the next few chapters planned out and I'll be releasing them periodically. I'm thinking that it won't be more than fifteen chapters. But afterwards, if all goes according to plan, I'll have four more stories in the series. I know, it's ambitious. But I've still got a lot of ideas I need to get out of my head and into writing. Stay tuned~ 8)_


	9. Streetlamps

A couple days later, everything started going back to normal. Normal meaning parents rushing out the house with half-eaten breakfast left on the kitchen table to investigate a ghost sighting near the park. Normal meaning braniac Jazz off to study Psychology at Ohio State. Normal meaning Danny slipping in and out of the house, sometimes as a ghost, sometimes not. Such was the average life that Danny's family led.

Only Danny was finding himself especially bored today. Beth was under house arrest per the watchful eye of her dramatic mother. Tucker was not responding, although Danny had a glooming suspicion he was lost in his gaming like usual. Left alone and unoccupied, Danny desperately looked for something to do. He _could_ do some homework, but… hey, what's that? Danny thought at he looked down at his hand. It was the number that Sam had scrawled onto his hand just days before. It was still there. After all, Sharpie was very hard to wash out. Alright, fine, Danny concluded. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And he was desperate for entertainment. He entered the number into his phone and saved it as a contact, glaring at his screen until he brought himself to text her a simple message: "_Hey, it's Danny._" Waiting for a response, he flicked on the TV and surfed the channels. His phone glowed a couple minutes later with a response.

"_Finally! I was beginning to wonder if you were ignoring me. Hahah! But seriously." _ Great. She was even somehow intimidating over text message. Danny replied: "_No, I wasn't. I've just been preoccupied recently. But now I've got nothing going on if you want to hang out or something." _ He waited for a response, which came quickly. "_Meet me at the movies in ten minutes. They're showing the original version of Evil Dead today, and I'm already here." _Danny stared at his screen. Okay, that'll do. He put his phone in his pocket and phased into ghost form, taking off for the cinema. On his way, he saw a bright, large blob of orange Hazmat that could only be his father, accompanied by his smaller, teal mother. They were talking to an old woman who seemed to be describing something she had seen in her house when the lady pointed up towards the sky, straight at him. Danny gasped as he turned invisible. But it was too late. All three below had all seen him. Even from this high up, he could hear the cry of his father: "GHOST! Did you see that Maddie? REAL, VISIBLE ECTOPLASMIC SCUM IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD! GHOOOST!" Oh, great, Danny thought to himself, just swell. Well, at least they only caught a glance of him. Continuing his invisibility cloak, he kept flying towards the movies, arriving just in time.

Inside the cinema now, he flew into the men's bathroom and changed back into human form. Exiting, he looked around for the goth girl. He found her waiting by the entrance of the theatre. He approached her from behind and tapped on her bare shoulder. She turned around and saw him, confused.

"Fenton? How'd you get in here?" she asked him, looking around for other exits. "Whatever. Movie's starting. Come on!" She grabbed him by the hand and led him into Theatre 9. Danny blushed and stumbled along her side. They found a spot in the middle of the room and sat at the edge of the row. "Hey, actually, would you mind getting some popcorn and bringing it back to me? I forgot to buy some before the movie." She handed him a hundred dollar bill. "Sorry, it's all I have."

"Oh, uh, no problem!" Danny walked back up the aisle. What is going on? Is this a date? Am I on a date? Well, anything is better than sitting at home bored, thought Danny. He ordered a medium popcorn and waited for it to be brought back to him. Suddenly, Danny got a chill, and a cool wisp left his mouth, dissolving into the air. Oh no, Danny thought. Usually when this happened, it meant that there was a ghost nearby. The guy behind the counter shoved the popcorn into Danny's distracted hands.

"Here's your popcorn, kid," said the man, "And if you're that cold, maybe you should have brought a sweater."

"Thanks," replied Danny sarcastically. Well, the ghost in the cinema probably wasn't going to be a threat anyway. And hey, maybe it was just Abe Lincoln back to appreciate the wonders of the theatre! Danny snickered at the thought. He'd let this one go as he headed back into the room. He sat back down and handed Sam her popcorn and her change.

"Does it have butter on it? Buttered popcorn is the only way to go," Sam whispered, leaning close to him. Danny, looking down self-consciously, tried to remember if the guy had put any on or not. "No worries, it does." Sam shoved some in her mouth, smiling. Phew. Danny didn't know what it was about this girl that intimidated him so much. It's not like she was the scariest thing in the world. And that idea was coming from a kid who dealt with ghosts on a daily basis. Calm down, Fenton, Danny said. It's not like you even like her. "Popcorn?" Sam asked as she looked over at him. Danny suddenly realized how gorgeous the goth was. Her purple eyes were shockingly uniquie, and she had such nymph-like facial features. She may have acted harsh, but she was nothing rough on the eyes. Danny swallowed, nodding and shoving some into his mouth. Sam focused yet again on the screen. He never expected to be on a date with Sam Manson. Wait until I tell Tuck, Danny thought to himself as he started to relax in his chair.

More blue haze left his mouth in a quick chill. Okay, so now the ghost had moved into their room. Perfect. He readjusted his position in the chair, looking around for any sign of this spectral movie-goer. "Danny, are you cold or something?" Sam asked. He looked back at her and shook his head. "Huh. I thought I saw your breath for a second there. Weird." The chill happened again. "Okay, I'm not crazy. I definitely just saw it again."

"Well, I guess I'm a little chilly," Danny faked to distract from the real issue at hand. He rubbed his hands on his arms and slunk down in his seat. Sam handed him the hot bag of popcorn in an attempt to get him to warm up.

"That's weird. You seem pretty hot to me," Sam winked. Danny's eyes grew wide as his cheeks flushed with surprise. Sam laughed heartily and drew her focus back to the movie. Okay, this is officially the weirdest and most unlikely date in the history of ever, Danny thought to himself. He shoved popcorn into his mouth every time he felt his ghost sense coming on. His plan seemed to be working pretty well for a while, but in about an hour the two ran out of popcorn.

"Hey, Sam, I'll be right back," Danny whispered, getting up and moving to the back of the theatre. There, in the darkness, he phased into ghost form and turned invisible. Okay, ghostie, he thought to himself. Where the hell are you? He flew above the small crowd and searched the room. Seeing nothing, he floated back down and peered in between the rows. At last, just seats behind where he had been sitting with Sam, he found a small, pale child sitting alone on the edge of his seat. He seemed pretty happy, and definitely entertained by the violent yet cheesy movie being screened in front of him. Danny gained visibility as he kneeled down next to the boy. "Hey, kid, aren't you a little young to be in this movie?" The boy jumped as he realized the voice was talking to him. He looked at Danny, puzzled.

"How can you see me? I'm invisible!" Danny laughed. Then the boy realized, "Oh, you're a ghost too! Neat! Isn't it fun?"

"Ah, it sure is… hey, can you do me a favor, kid? I'm on a date with this girl—"

"EEEEEW, girls!" the kid laughed and snickered. People began to turn their heads around at the new noise.

"Shhh, we don't want people knowing we're here," Danny explained. "Well, I was just wondering if you would maybe move a little further back. It's hard to explain, I just act weirdly when there are other ghosts around, and I don't want to freak her out."

"But I have such a good seat here!" the kid complained. "What's the point of sneaking into a movie if you can't sit in your favorite spot?"

"What if I told you there was a better spot in this theatre that no one ever takes?" The boy looked back at Danny ecstatically. "Follow me," Danny instructed. The two flew up to the back of the theatre and into the projection room. The ghost child gasped as he climbed on top of the machine, putting his hands up to the glass between them and the movie.

"This is so cool!" exclaimed the child. "This really is the best seat. Thanks for showing it to me!"

"No problem! I'll see you around, kid." Danny waved as he fell through the floor and landed back in the room. He phased back to normal and headed to his seat. A couple minutes passed, and he no longer felt his ghost sense going off with all the persistence of an alarm clock. He smiled, exhaling calmly, and got comfortable in his seat again. That was easy, Danny thought. Sam looked back at him and smiled. And now he had nothing to distract him. Well, except for Sam.

"Hey, there you are. I was beginning to think you fell in," Sam whispered, mouth just centimeters from Danny's ear. "You missed a great part."

"Fill me in later," Danny replied. They both looked back at the screen and spent the rest of the movie silently aware of each other's presence. When the movie ended, the two piled out of the theatre along with the couple dozens of other people who came to appreciate the gory movie. They left the cinema and began to walk home.

"That was pretty fun, huh?" Sam said. "Ah, I live for corny horror flicks and buttery popcorn." She glanced at Danny, who was watching his feet as they moved step by step. "Did you enjoy the movie?"

"Yeah, definitely," Danny responded, "Although the tentacle part was a wee bit disturbing."

"That part tends to bother a lot of people. I say the creepier, the better!" Sam smirked and Danny laughed. "You're pretty cool, Fenton. You know that?"

"I'm pretty cool alright." The two laughed, and continued walking in a peaceful silence. The night had just settled in, and they watched as the streetlamps slowly turned on one by one. They let the sounds of the city fill the air as they walked past busy restaurants and crowded clubs. There may not have been many stars in the city's night sky, but the atmosphere of the nice town was enough to comfort the two teens.

In just a couple of minutes, they reached Sam's high rise apartment building. "Well, this is it," Sam acknowledged. "I guess I'll see you around, Fenton."

"Okay. See you—" Danny was just about to wave goodbye when Sam pulled him in and kissed him gently. The unexpected touch of her lips in between his surprised Danny and sent his head whirling. He leaned in further as he accepted his fate, closing his eyes and curling his arms around her elfin figure. Okay, I'll admit it, he thought to himself. I may have a teensy-weensy crush on the goth girl. Big deal. Their kiss ended as they pulled away from each other. Sam smiled slyly as she headed inside her fancy apartment. Once she had closed the door, Danny sprung up into the air. I kissed a girl! He thought to himself as he flew higher and higher. Wow! I really did! Joyfully, the ghost boy sailed through the sky like a leaf and headed back home, light as a feather. A positive encounter with a ghost _and _a girl? He thought. Maybe I'm dreaming.


	10. Deserted Halls

Danny felt weightless as he glided effortlessly through the air. He couldn't believe it. He just kissed a girl. He actually kissed a girl! He watched the sleepy town pass by below without a care in the world. All he could think about was that moment. He was the happiest ghost kid on the planet! Well, he thought, maybe the only ghost kid on the planet, but nevertheless, it had been a great, fantastic, _wonderful_ day.

He flew past the school where he'd be attending in just days. Ugh, he thought. The only thing that could make this moment worse is the thought of going to school again. Still, he'd never been in the school when there was no one around, and he was curious. He descended into the school and landed on the second floor. Half of the lights were on, which was weird for a Thursday night during summer vacation. But he didn't think much of it past that. He glided with feet inches from the floor through the vacant halls of his high school. The lockers were bare and the walls felt naked without the sermonic posters of upcoming sports events and club activities. Even the classrooms were mostly empty. He wasn't sure what he was going to get out of this visit, but he figured this would be a good time to learn any of its secrets.

Phasing down a level, he found himself in the school gymnasium. Ropes hung from the top of the ceiling and, although not to be filled with them for over two months, it still managed to smell like gym shorts. Wonderful. He would have left sooner had he not heard the sound of the doors opening. Turning invisible, he watched as his parents, escorted by the school's vice principal, walked into the gymnasium.

"I'm getting very strong readings for ghost activity in this room," his mom declared as she translated the data from her Fenton-Ghost-Finder. "Yep, definitely spectral activity in the gym." She recorded her findings on a clipboard attached to her utility belt. Wow, Danny thought. All those weapons on that thing and she still finds room for a clipboard? Good for her.

"Keep a watchful eye, Principal Heinz," Jack Fenton said in a booming voice that echoed across the walls. "Just because you don't see a ghost doesn't mean it's not here… trust me, I'm a professional." He stood straight with his arms crossed tightly around his chest. What a professional, Danny thought. Who else would have guessed that ghosts could be invisible? Danny flew down closer to the three standing in the middle of the room. His mother's machine made intense beeping noises as he floated unseen feet away. Hating the sound, he flew back up towards the top of the room.

"This room is very unstable," his mother said curiously. "The only thing that would explain such readings is—"

"Is if there were ghosts in this room as we speak!" his dad shouted boisterously. Suddenly, he whipped a ghost ray blaster from behind his back. "Alright, you ghastly crone! Come out now and I won't blast you into such tiny pieces!" The principal stood there in shock, not sure how to react. Maddie Fenton grabbed her own ray gun as she stood back to back with her husband. Alright, maybe now is not the best time to be here, figured Danny as he phased out of the room. Figuring he was safe, he regained clarity and sat down on the stage of his school's auditorium after stumbling upon it during his escape. The last time he had been in here was when he made the mistake of trying out for the school play his freshman year. He had gotten such stage fright that he forgot to watch his step and fell right off of the stage. The class called him Butterfeet for months. Definitely not one of his favorite memories, nor his favorite nicknames.

Danny had been so lost in thought that he had not heard the sound of thick rubber against linoleum floors. By the time he realized it, his parents had opened the doors straight across from the stage, and it had been too late. They all glared as Danny sat on the stage, omitting a ghostly glow. He gasped in surprise and went invisible once more.

"Maddie! That was the ghost we saw earlier in the sky!" Jack declared. "Hey! Quit hiding and come out so I can tear you apart molecule by molecule!"

"I've actually heard of that particular ghost," the principal finally piped up, causing the two energetic ghostbusters to look his way. "My nephew told me about it just the other day. He was working in the park when he came across that same apparition standing by some tree. And I think I've heard rumors about him before from other people."

"Come to think of it, I have too," Maddie recollected "A couple of ladies at my book club have mentioned it before. I was expecting a hearty discussion of The Help, but I was much more interested in the topic of ghosts!"

Oh great, _now_ I'm gaining popularity, thought Danny as he watched the adults gather their information. He was usually careful to keep a low profile, but maybe not as often has he should have been. It didn't think it was really necessary, considering the biggest threats to his safety were the two in his room, and they hadn't even known about him until now. But Danny still wasn't worried. He could easily avoid confrontation with them. Well, in his ghost form at least.

"After considering what we've found in this school, and considering this is town with the highest level of spectral activity this side of the Atlantic, I would definitely recommend the inclusion of ghost drills at school," Maddie concluded as she watched the data on her screen fluctuate as Danny slowly flew across the top of the auditorium. "I can type up a plan of action for these drills when I get home and have them ready for you by the beginning of the school year."

"Yes, I'm sure the school board would appreciate that greatly," concluded Mr. Heinz. "Just send it to me at my school email and I'll make sure to spread the word through the faculty. I'll also have my janitors report any ghostly sightings they may find after hours."

"Sounds great. Well, if that's all, I think it's time we got back home. Danny's probably wondering where we are, huh, Jack?"

"Aah, at his age all he's thinking about is food and girls," Jack stated confidently. "And, if he's following the footsteps of his father, he's also thinking about ghosts!" Danny rolled his eyes. Well, he had been thinking about two of those things recently: girls and ghosts. And, come to think of it, he was pretty hungry. Ooh, we've got leftover lasagna just waiting for me to eat it, Danny thought. Now would be a good time to leave. With that, Danny flew up and out of the school, heading towards home.

He had only been there ten minutes when his parents returned from their daily ghost duty. "Hi, Danny!" his mother sang as they entered their apartment. "How was your day?"  
"Oh, you know. Same old, same old," Danny said in between gulps of his lasagna. He looked up at his parents, who were unloading some of their equipment in the living room.

"See? What did I tell you, Maddie? The boy's eating, as teenage boys do," Jack declared. "Guess what, Danny boy? Your mother and I discovered high paranormal ratings in your school this evening. Your vice principal hired us to check it out, and he was rewarded whole-heartedly with our expert knowledge on everything ghost!"

"Now, Jack, nothing's official just yet," his mother clarified sweetly, her motherly voice like honey. "But it's true. We even saw a ghost in the school's auditorium. Right with our own eyes!"

"No kidding!" Danny pretended to be surprised but didn't take his eyes off of his cheesy meal.

"Yeah! Have you heard anything about this ghost kid? Apparently, he's quite a rising figure in Amity Park."

"Can't say that I have."

"Well, you better be on the lookout for him, son. You never know just how evil and dangerous these ghosts can be," Jack stressed as he sat down at the table, smelling Danny's dinner. "Heeey, lasagna! Any of that left?"

"Sorry, Dad, I got the last of it," Danny said with his mouth full of the final bite of lasagna. His mother scowled at him as he spoke with his mouth full. "You sure missed a good meal, though."

"Danny, don't talk with your mouth full," his mother reprimanded. Danny smiled with a cheesy grin. They chuckled as Danny cleaned up his dishes and headed to his bedroom. Man, did he have a lot of stuff to tell Beth. He'd have to catch her when she could escape her parents and relay all this information to her. Right now, he was just bent on perfecting this day with a nice, solid, ten or so hours of wakeless sleep.

* * *

_Sorry this chapter's a bit late! The next few updates will not be coming out as periodically as they have been in the past. I think this will go another five chapters and then I'll take a break while I start writing the sequel. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! R&R, as always. 8)_


	11. Catch Up

Beth had still not been answering her phone. They hadn't spoken in person, let alone at all, since that scary night two weeks ago. How much time could someone really spend doing summer work? Danny thought. It was just a couple of days before school was set to start, and he wanted to touch base with her one final time in the summer. If she doesn't respond to me today, I'll just go over there myself, reasoned Danny as he sat on his bed staring at the ceiling. For the next few hours, Danny found random things around his house to amuse him and keep him busy. The whole day had gone by and there was still no response from Beth. Watching his clock tip over from 9:59 to 10:00, he sat up and walked downstairs and down the road to her house. Maybe he could reason with her parents while he was there and they'd let her get out some more.

Danny found her apartment and knocked a couple times on the door. He waited patiently as he heard footsteps coming from the far side of the room. Unfortunately, it was her wild mother who answered the door, and not her more reasonable father. The woman staring back at him was a taller version of Beth, with the same light brown hair and brown eyes. The only differences between Beth and her mother were their personalities and small details of the face. For example, Beth did not have any crow's feet.

"Why, hello Daniel!" sang Beth's mother. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages! Where ever have you been?"

"Oh, you know, at home, pretty much," Danny replied, staring at his feet. "Mrs. Sabatino, I was wondering if I could see Beth—"  
"Oh, Daniel, don't be so silly. You can call me Vitalia," she winked. Danny felt self-conscious.

"Alright then, Vitalia, is Beth home by any chance?"

"Bethany? Why, she's not taking visitors right now," the woman replied as if concealing her own daughter. "But if you want to you could come in for a cup of tea and a slice of—"

"That's a nice offer, but I'll have to, uh, decline," Danny rushed his words, slowly inching backwards. "Well, have Beth let me know when she's having company."

"Oh, I will." Vitalia smiled at him with a hint of playfulness. "You could always check back in tomorrow. She might be better by then."

"Better? Is she sick?"

"Oh, terribly so. Coughing and wheezing and the whole ordeal. Poor girl. I think she may be nervous for school to start up, fragile thing she is." Beth's mom was now completely in the hallway. Danny realized he was up against the wall adjacent to their doorway. "I'm sure she would appreciate your visit, though. I'll let her know you swung by."

"Thanks. Well, I'll just go then, I'll see you around, Mrs. Sabatino—" and with that, Danny walked briskly around the corner until he was no longer in sight nor reach of the woman.

"Vitalia!" she sang from within the hallway. He felt safe only when he heard the door close behind her. Letting out a relieved exhale, he entered the stairwell, disappointed and more than a little perturbed.

Looks like he'd have to visit Beth the old-fashioned way. Well, so to speak. Danny phased into intangibility as he flew out of the building, turning sharply and arriving at Beth's window. He saw a lump in bed that he assumed was her. Remembering the promise he made last time, Danny knocked softly on the window and watched as she stirred from her peaceful position. He knocked once more to reassure her she hadn't just heard some random sound. Beth looked over her shoulder and smiled. Danny waved as he phased through the window. "Hey! I tried coming in the normal way, but your mom said you weren't taking visitors. I just haven't gotten a reply from any of my texts recently and I was worried."

"Oh, God. Yeah, sorry about that. Did my mom tell you I had some sort of terrible disease? Because I don't. I have a small tickle in my throat." Beth sat up in bed and stretched. "My mom took my phone away so I'd get my work done, and she conveniently forgot where she put it. She also hasn't let me leave the house. It hasn't been the best end of summer for me," Beth joked.

"Well, if you're up for it, I've got a lot of stories to tell. At least four big ones that I can think of off the top of my head," Danny recollected. "And I wouldn't mind hearing about all of the riveting time you've spent in bed the past week."

"Hah, hah, hah. Well, actually, that's basically what I've been doing. If I'm gonna be on lockdown: mom style, I mind as well do it from the comfort of my own bed. Alright, ghost kid. Spill."

So Danny spilled. He talked about his encounter with the clairvoyant and the epiphanies he had shared with her. He described the strange sense of peace that overcame him when he entered the room with the woman and the time they spent so spiritually connected. Then he described the ordeal with his sister and all the regrets that came with it. Awkwardly, since he wasn't used to discussing girl issues with anyone, he confessed is new affection for the goth girl and the night in the movie theatre. To top it all off, he discussed the night he spent haunting around the school and the encounter he had with his parents in his ghost form, explaining the new ghost drills that the school would probably be having in part thanks to him. Beth listened intently, devoted the tales she heard from her peculiar friend. Finally, Danny finished, and Beth had felt thoroughly entertained.

"Wow. That is some week," Beth declared, simplifying the developments frankly.

"Actually, it was two weeks," Danny clarified. Beth gave him a glare. "Yeah, yeah, I know. One week, two weeks, potato, potahto."

"Exactly," Beth seemed satisfied with his clarification. "I can't believe I missed all of that. Maybe I should go ahead and register as a self-employed hermit. I'm almost excited for school if it means I get to leave my house," Beth lamented, raising her blanket over her head and arching her back, contorting her face and making nonsense sounds. Danny laughed as he realized that was her version of a hermit. She kept up the antics as Danny replied with his own silly faces. Suddenly, the two heard the sound of her door handle turning and gasped.

"Bethany! What is going on?" her mother entered with a very concerned look on her face. All she could see was Beth sitting on her bed with a wacky face and covered in a throw-blanket. Beth looked to her side to see if Danny was still there. He wasn't. Glancing back at her mom, she smiled weakly.

"Oh, I was just… sleep talking," Beth arrived at her absurd conclusion. "Yeah. Don't you ever sleep talk? It's really weird."

"I'll say," her mother replied. "Anyway, get some rest, dear. You need to be in top shape before school comes! I can't have my little girl going to school deathly ill!"

"As I've been saying, I'm fine, but I will go back to sleep. Which means I need to have my door closed. In short: Goodnight, mom."

"Night dearie! Sleep tight!" her mom was about to leave when she turned back. "And maybe less sweets before bed?"

"Sure," Beth smiled as she watched her door slowly come to a close. Danny reappeared next to her slowly, sitting cross-legged on her mattress. "That was close," Beth affirmed.

"I'll say. You're lucky I have a good reaction time." Danny crossed his arms as if gloating. Beth pushed him off of the bed and he landed on her floor with a soft thump. Beth fell onto her side giggling. "Hey! You better be nice to me. I'm your only escape from this prison-house."

"I guess that's true," admitted Beth. "Wait, why did I not think of this before? Please take me somewhere. Anywhere that doesn't smell like my mother's perfume!" Beth put her hands together as if in a begging position. Danny smiled with a hint of sport as he stood up and grabbed a hold of Beth's arms. The two were soon launching through the room and into the night sky. Both intangible, the two looked over the town shortly, admiring the view. Beth had only been so high up a couple of times and was not used to the sense of freedom. Danny was happy to share it.

"Where to?" asked Danny. Beth did not respond. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, I'm just gonna take us to some random place." More silence. Beth was still trying to get used to the feeling of weightlessness. "Suit yourself." With that, the two flew off towards downtown Amity Park, passing over the dimly lit streets below. After just a couple of minutes spent flying, Danny took them down onto the top of an eighteen wheeler parked outside of a CVS, where, just across the street, a night club was raging on with bright neon lights. "Just in time for the paaar-tay!" Danny exclaimed. Beth laughed.

"This is certainly better than staying in bed." The two watched the silhouetted bodies of the dancers within the club flash back and forth on the glassy windows across the way. They could feel the booming within their chests even from across the street. "Huh. Must be terrible living next to a night club," Beth noted.

"That's true." The friends continued to chit chat as they sat atop the truck for a couple of hours. They let the night slip away as they swung their legs off the edge of the trailer and mourned the end of their summer. Surely, their adventures wouldn't stop when their break did, but there was always some sort of nostalgic feeling between friends when responsibilities washed in like waves on a beach. If their way of putting off the end of summer was staring mindlessly at the wall of some late night party, then they'd sit and watch colors dance before their eyes for hours. As long as they were there, the moment didn't have to end, and neither of them wanted it to.

* * *

_Hey you! Long time, no update, I know. I could tell you why, but I'd like there to be some mystery between us. I've actually had this chapter written for a while, but I have this policy where O like to have the next few chapters ready before I post it. I'm stuck on Chapter 13 right now. So, when it comes out and you read it, and you think to yourself "Wow, this chapter's not so great," just know that I've warned you. I hope you had a spoopy halloween. I went as Sam. Ciao (8_


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